Safety appliance for airplanes



May 3, 1938. c. w. POINDEXTER ET AL ,115,932

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AIRPLANES Filed May 20, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 CHnRLs-s F PomoxTER q- 2 wiak May 3, 1938. c. w'. PCID'INDEXTER ET AL 2,115,932

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AIRPLANES File d May 20, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C HflRLEs W Fb/NDEXTE AND C HRRLES FIPomDsXTER Gasman;

' line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Patented May 3, 1938 PATENT OFFICE 2,115,932 I SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AIRPLANES Charles W. Poindexter and Charles F.

Poindexter.

near Yadkinville, N. C. Application May 20, 1936, Serial No, 80,825 1 Claim. (Cl. 244-140) This invention relates to safety means employed with airplanes for preventing injury to passengers and pilots-in the event of power plant failure or structural failures of the airplanes or other causes or conditions resulting in inability of theaircraft to land safely.

It is an object of this invention to provide means associated with a heavier than air air-r craft-which can be manipulated by the pilot of the aircraft to release a parachute for checking the descent of the aircraft in the event'of power plant or structural failures.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a parachute nested in a concealed position in the structure of the aircraft and which parachute can be released by an occupant oi the airplane for opening and retarding the downward descent of the airplane.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a detachable pilot and passenger cabin for an airplane and having a. parachute associated therewith in concealed position together with means operable by an occupant of the cabin for releasing and unfolding a parachute and also releasing the cabin of the plane from the plane proper.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide an aircraft with a concealed parachute with means controlled by an occupant of the craft for releasing and unfolding the parachute to check the downward descent of the aircraft.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear -as-the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying. drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation ofa portion of an airplane and showing a parachute in unfolded position;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of an airplane and showing the cabin detached therefrom and suspended by the parachute;

Figure 3 is alongitudinal sectional view through the cabin portion of the airplane and showing the safety means in folded position;

Figure 4 is a sectional planview taken along Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 ln.Figure 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of the upper central portion of Figure 3 tak n along a dif-n ferent section line and showing the position the parts occupy when the parachute-is in extended DOSltlOh Figure 7'is an enlarged detail view showing one is adapted to fit. This cabin longrons the upstanding portion of a fitting 33 disposed at of the means for detachably securing the cabin to the-fuselage;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 in Figure 7.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, 5 thenumerals l0 and H indicate the lower longrons of the fuselage IQ of the airplane while l2 and I3 indicate the top longrons. These longrons are secured together by suitable vertical and horizontal struts such as I4, l5, l6, and 10 II. The longrons and struts are braced by suitable diagonal bracing tubes Ill. The fuselage I!) has a cutaway portion 2| in which cabin 22 comprises vertical tubing 25, 26, 21 and 28 and transverse bottom tubes 29 and an and top transverse tubes 29a and 30a respectively forming the cabin with suitable covers and doors. The longrons, struts and diagonals have a covering. 23 secured thereto for formlng suitable external surfaces necessary for the proper operation of the plane. The lower l0 and II have suitable fittings or pins 3| welded or otherwise secured thereto which" have a hole therethrough into which a tapered pin 32 is adapted to project after passing through the four (Fig. 7).

These pins are normally pressed home by means of a tension spring 34 secured at one end 0 to portion 33 and the other end to the bolt head 35 of bolt 32. Each of these bolts has a suitable cable secured thereto. The transverse member 29 has secured thereon a bracket 36 having rollers 38, 39, 40 and 4| rotatably mounted thereon, which are grooved. The transverse tube 29 of the cabin has a' fitting 43 secured thereto with rollers and 45 mounted thereon. A lever 46 is disposed within the cabin and pivoted as at 41 and has cables 49, 50, it and cross piece 53 on the lower end thereof. Cable 49 passes ovarrollers .40 and 45 and is secured lower corners of the detachable cabin to the rear rig t-hand pin 32 in the lower portion of the cabin. able 44 and is secured to the storage compartment for the parachute.

52 secured to a A portion of the instrument board 60 is shown and this has a knob 52, which is connected to a short length of cable 63 which has its other end secured or intertwined with cable 55 as at 64. The center section of the airplane, that is, the portion disposed between the two wings of the airplane, and immediately above the compartment of the cabin has a cavity 10 provided with a pivoted door II in the upper portion thereof. .4. latch I2 isslidably mounted on the exterior of the center section and has a cable I3 secured thereto which passes over rollers 14 and 15 and is secured as at 15 to cable 55. A compression spring I6 normally pushes the latch 12 rearwardly over the front free end of door ll to hold it in closed position. The door 1! is pivoted at its rear end as at 11 and this door has, a member 10 secured to the lower surface thereof having a slot IO therein in which one end of a lever 81 is adapted to travel. This lever 80 is slidably mounted in a cuff 8i pivoted as at 82 to a fitting ll secured to parachute compartment 81, said compartment being supported by a strut 84 which is U-shaped and has its endssecured to struts and 86, (Figs. 3 and 5). Lever 80, at its lower end, has secured thereto one end of cable 55 which passes over a roller 88 mounted in an extension 89 projecting'downwardiy from a U-shaped member 84. U-shaped member 84 supports a parachute compartment 81 in which a parachute 90 is stored in folded position.

On the interior of compartment 81 and secured to struts 84 is an eye member 9! to which is secured an eye 92 having secured thereto parachute Parachute 90 may have a small pilot chute 90a attached thereto to aid in opening the same. The parachute rests on a flat member 93 which is normally pressed upwardly by a compression spring 94.

When it is desired to unfold the parachute without detaching the cabin from the fuselage, the pilot, who is occupying the pilot's seat 95, may pull on knob 52 and this will release latch 12 and move lever 80. to open the door and as spring 94 is pressing the parachute 90 upwardly against this door, it will push the parachute out into the slip stream passing over the upper surface of the wing. The lift, which is present at this point, will pull the parachute out of the compartment, aided of course, by the pushing of spring 94 which spring will push a portion of the parachute out of the compartment and cause it to be engaged by the slip stream and opened. This will check the descent of the entire airplane and at least prevent serious injury to pilot and passengers within the plane.

In the event that this apparatus should be installed on air liners or on other aircraft, the weight of which is too great to be sufllciently checked by the parachute, then the cabin alone could be disconnected from the fuselage and at least the lives of the passengers in the compartment saved. In such an event the pilot would push forward on the upper end of lever 45 which would not only cause the latch 12 to be-released and the door ll opened and the parachute released into the slip stream, but it would also move the cables 49, 50, 5i and 52 to pull all of the pins 32 from the holes in the upper ends of fittings 3i to allow the cabin to be pulled upwardly by the opened parachute away from the fuselage and engine of the airplane. The cabin would then drift to the earth at a slow rate of speed while the fuselage and remaining portions of the airplane would be sacrificed to crashing.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claim.

We claim:

An airplane having a fuselage, wings and a center section, and a cabin disposed beneath said center section and formed integrally'with said center section, the center section having a compartment therein provided with a door hingedly secured at its rear edge to the center section and said center section having a spring pressed latch for engaging the front edge of said door fornormally holding the door in closed position, a packed parachute disposed within said compartment and secured to said center section, spring means for expelling said parachute from said compartment, a lever for opening said door, a hand lever in the cabin, a cable secured to said latch and said lever and extending downwardly and being connected to said hand lever for opening. said latch and moving the first-named lever to force said door open to release said parachute from said compartment, means for releasably confining said cabin to said fuselage, a plurality of cables connected to the hand lever andto said confining means for also releasing said confining means at the same time the parachute is released by operation of the hand lever for releasing the cabin from the fuselage and a handle secured to the first cable and extending into the cabin and being operable independently of the hand lever to release said latch and move the first lever to release the parachute without releasing the cabin.

CHARLES W. POINDEXTER. CHARLES F. POIN'DEXTER. 

